Can Meat Processed On-Farm Be Sold?

Whether beef can be sold in Alberta depends on more than where it was cut and wrapped. The inspection status of the slaughtered animal is fundamental.

Commercial beef must come through the inspected system

Alberta states that meat or meat products sold or distributed in the province must come from an inspected slaughter facility or processing facility.

Mobile butcher meat

Meat from an animal slaughtered under a Mobile Butcher Licence is uninspected.

It is for the animal owner and their immediate household and cannot be sold or further distributed.

On-Farm Slaughter Operation meat

Meat resulting from slaughter under an OFSO licence is also uninspected.

Alberta specifically states that this meat cannot be sold, gifted, bartered or otherwise transferred.

What if it is professionally cut and wrapped?

Further processing does not change uninspected meat into inspected meat.

For example, uninspected meat can be processed at an appropriately licensed mobile butcher facility, but it remains uninspected and cannot enter commercial sale.

What can be sold?

Meat slaughtered through an appropriate inspected abattoir route can enter the commercial food system subject to the requirements that apply to the product and business.

A mobile butcher facility may also purchase inspected meat for further processing. Products made only from inspected meat can be sold to the public within Alberta.